VICTORIA, B.C.: Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna-Mission, has introduced the Brain Injury Support Act, a bill which adds a definition of brain injury to the Mental Health Act, and ensures that significant brain injuries will be recognized under the Mental Health Act for treatment purposes.

“Despite the seriousness of the impairment, people living with acquired brain injury can still fall into a gap between systems, diagnoses, and statutory categories,” said Dew. “This bill will ensure that people with brain injuries don’t fall through the cracks of the healthcare system.”

“At its core, this bill is about dignity – ensuring that individuals with brain injury are seen, supported, and given a fair opportunity to recover within appropriate systems of care,” said Amanda McFarlane, Executive Director of BrainTrust Canada.

British Columbia is experiencing a brain injury crisis, made worse by the NDP government’s mishandling of the opioid crisis. People who have experienced a drug poisoning or overdose are 19.5 times more likely to suffer brain damage than those who have not. When overdoses deprive the brain of oxygen, the result can be severe and cause permanent brain damage. Additionally, people with brain injuries are more prone to substance abuse. According to Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs, and Concurrent Disorders, the NDP government’s “harm reduction” policies have failed people with brain injuries.

“The way it was implemented was completely blind to the fact that for people with severe mental illness, harm reduction is not harm reduction, it is harm enhancement,” said Vigo.

The Brain Injury Support Act would ensure that people with brain injuries are not subject to this harm enhancement. By recognizing significant brain injuries within the framework of the Mental Health Act, people suffering from them will be able to receive the care and support they need.

“As this province mourns a decade of losing loved ones, I hope that all MLAs can unite around this small change that can make a massive difference,” said Dew.

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